RAREBREED SHOWCASE: Brontornis (terror bird)

Known as terror birds, phorusrhacids were giant flightless birds that dwelt in isolation around Patagonia during the Cenozoic. Brontornis stood nearly 3 meters weighing 400 kilograms, it was possibly the largest carnivorous bird on earth. It was heavily built and relied on ambushing prey rather than speed alone; fossil studies indicated that terror birds kicked and bludgeoned prey to death with beaks rather than just biting. Brontornis could have tackled prey large as the one ton astrapotherium.

Brontornis the mighty “thunder bird” reached the upper size limit of birds, perhaps, due to egg structure or avian biology. The embryo would have been encased in an egg a meter in circumference supporting two gallons, equivalent to 150-200 chicken eggs. “Thunder birds” thrived on the savannas of the Middle Miocene for a brief moment in time during the Cenozoic which hosted some bizarre beasts endemic only to Patagonia.